Concert Review: Mass of the Fermenting Dregs at the Vermont Hollywood

words and photos by Logan Martin

On September 17th, KCSB’s Isabelle Prittie and I set out for LA to see Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, a Japanese post-hardcore and alt-rock trio hailing from Kobe City, Japan play at the Vermont Hollywood venue. The band has seen tough times since its conception in 2002, with two of its three founding members leaving the group in 2007 and 2010, as well as the band’s temporary dissolution in 2012. Despite all of the difficulties they have faced throughout the years, MOTFD has established a diehard fan base in the United States, which allowed them to go on their second ever North American tour! The band’s current roster consists of founding member, bassist and vocalist Natsuko Miyamoto, as well as guitarist Naoya Ogura and drummer Isao Yoshino.

I find MOTFD’s sound incredibly unique in its interesting combination of inspirations: they create a perfect blend of punk informed sound and softer indie rock, doing both extremely well. They lean more heavily into their hardcore adjacent inspiration much more frequently in their earlier music–before the band temporarily broke up in 2012–and the intense, driving sound of their earlier EPs and singles has remained immensely popular among MOTFD’s fan base to this day. This band is very important to me. So needless to say, I was extremely excited for this show.

It took me until the first openers took the stage to realize that this show did in fact have openers. I’m not sure how I managed to be this clueless, but here we are. As I maneuvered through the crowd, a group of unfamiliar faces took the stage and began tuning their instruments. Confused at these unknown musicians, I found out from a crowd member that a band called Blush is one of two openers for the night. Blush is a shoegaze and alternative rock quartet from Singapore who has been a part of MOTFD’s tour. A relatively young group who released their debut full release in 2023, their performance to me embodied the “wall of sound” you imagine in shoegaze music, which refers to the typical density and ‘fullness’ of sonic textures found in the genre. This is typically achieved using pedals to prolong sounds and allow for lush layering of tones, accompanied with shoegaze’s characteristic wispy vocals. In Blush’s case, the bass and drums were noticeably powerful in the mix, which made their sound really fill my head, but I did wish that the vocals had been a little more audible, especially after listening to their studio recordings and hearing how much their vocalist’s singing adds to the music. But I was really impressed with them overall, and going in blind was a surprising yet fun experience. I do hope this tour helps them keep growing. I have high hopes for them!

The second opener was Cam Kahin, a sort of garage rock punk informed solo project from a 22-year old dude from a small town in Canada. His origins are as DIY as it gets, spending his youth teaching himself how to play several instruments and then how to produce his own music. He gained popularity in the greater Toronto area following his signing to Dine Alone Records in 2022, and seems to be doing pretty well for himself so far. I really enjoyed his live set, his vocal control was incredible, and he performed impressive screams. What surprised me the most was how different his live performance was compared to his studio releases. Frankly, the live set’s authenticity made me enjoy it much more than Cam’s studio recordings. This disappointed me a little because I’m sure that he is talented enough to create really unique music, especially using his insane vocals. His studio work isn’t bad by any means, but I would love to see him break from the commercial tendencies I noticed in his recordings and experiment more with his sound, because he certainly is capable.

 

After much anticipation, and with an imminently dying camera battery, Mass of the Fermenting Dregs’ set was all that was left for the night. To attest to the energy of the crowd, I’d say they made more noise when Natsuko took to the stage to set her beer down by her microphone than they did at any point during the openers. During the course of MOTFD’s set, the crowd got more and more hyped, even forming a rudimentary push pit in the center of the crowd during their heavier songs. The excitement of the crowd was palpable – based on the crowd’s energy, I’m sure they were just as excited as I was to learn of the tour. It was a nice feeling knowing that I was in the midst of a bunch of people who appreciate the music just like myself, even if the random Japanese phrases some people would shout at the band members was a little odd. I saw many people singing along to the music when they most likely don’t know what any of it means, granted it’s all in Japanese, and everyone seemed so immersed in the music. Overall, it was a really positive environment.

 

To be honest, I don’t remember whether it was the first song or just one of the first, but MOTFD’s performance of “Sugar” resonated with me in a way that I never expected. This track is one of their more laid back and positive tunes, and I’ve liked it a lot ever since I first heard it, but it had been with me for much less time than other work of theirs, so I was taken aback when I started getting a little emotional hearing them play it on stage. At that point, I fully internalized that I was actually there seeing them live: members of a band I’ve loved for multiple years right in front of me. Seeing MOTFD live was a bucket list item for me, and it always felt like a pipe dream since they rarely would tour the United States, so I think that until this point the reality hadn’t fully set in yet. Funnily enough, “Sugar” was one of the only songs I didn’t record any video of on my phone, and yet I remember it more vividly than any of the others.

Not very far into the set, the sound crew messed up pretty badly, and the band couldn’t hear their own playing and had to completely stop for a reasonable amount of time to get the issue sorted. I feel for the sound crew, and I can only imagine how stressed they were trying to figure everything out, but a mistake of that magnitude can’t be dismissed, and it had the potential to ruin their performance. Luckily, everything worked out and the performance went smoothly from that point on.

 

Throughout the entire set, Natsuko’s voice during the set gave off a sense of maturity that was less present in the band’s live sets of past years. I noticed that her ability to reach the higher notes she would in studio recordings has greatly improved, and she hardly ever fell off key during their set, which is really impressive given the pace and demanding nature of MOTFD’s vocals. This may come at a price, however, as the trio’s on stage energy was somewhat diminished compared to, say, their live sets from the mid 2010’s following the band’s reformation. Their energy was great, don’t get me wrong, but it was refined in a way that would inevitably alter the vibe of their performance. I don’t see this as a fault, just a sign of the band’s growth and acquired stability. More than anything, it makes me wonder what direction the band will take in the future.

 

I was so glad that MOTFD didn’t shy away from performing some of their long slow burners. In their catalog, they have just two tracks that run for 8+ minutes, “End Roll” and “1960”, both of which they performed. I feel that this attests to the fact that they will perform the songs that they appreciate as well as the crowd pleasers, though I’m pleased either way. I love how hearing songs like these, especially live, are always a significant experience for me. I closed my eyes for a good portion of “End Roll” to take it all in, and it was incredible. Despite my general opposition to people who have their phone out recording the majority of live shows, for this song at least I felt like I needed to have a tangible record of this song at least. I kept my phone recording at waist level the whole time, though I hardly looked at it since the performance was so captivating.

 

Shooting this show was a blast, and finally getting to see MOTFD live made me love the band even more. I’m sure that even greater things are to come for them, as their fan base abroad only continues to grow over time. I’m super excited to see what the future holds for them, and I’m sure I’ll be a lifelong fan of theirs. I highly encourage all of you to check out MOTFD’s music, it’s truly one of a kind.